Former St. Louis Detention Facilities Oversight Board Vice Chair Janis Mensah has sent an open letter with nearly 600 signatures to Mayor Cara Spencer urging her to address jail oversight and to drop Mensah’s charges of trespassing and resisting arrest.
Mensah’s case is set for a jury trial in the St. Louis Circuit Court on July 23. The charges could result in jail time, but fines are more likely, according to Maureen Hanlon, an attorney at ArchCity Defenders, the legal advocacy organization representing Mensah.
She said jury trials on municipal charges don’t happen often…